


The Book Of The Red Desert

by twin_fics



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Spock (Star Trek), Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-07 21:43:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20464823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twin_fics/pseuds/twin_fics
Summary: An AU in which Spock's story changes from the very beginning and, in doing so, it alters the destiny of Vulcan.





	The Book Of The Red Desert

The wild female sehlat scented the air, turning its big head towards the strange smell that had caught its interest a few minutes before. Curious, the sehlat approached the origin of the scent and found a smouldering jumble of metal and plastic. The animal slowly circled the wreckage, scenting the air.

  
Suddenly a sound grabbed its attention and, the female sehlat walked cautiously toward the source. Behind a red rock, only a few metres from the jumble of metal, there was container similar to an egg. The container was damaged and, when the sehlat hesitantly tapped it with its paw, the upper piece slid to the ground leaving its contents unprotected. Inside there was a small sehlat cub, only a few months old. The female sehlat sniffed the cub and the small being mewled, turning its little body towards the adult sehlat. Its movement allowed the female sehlat to glimpse another being, partially hidden behind the cub.

  
The strange being was smaller than a sehlat cub. It also was mostly furless except for a tuft of black hair on top of its small head. When the female sehlat approached its snout, the small being opened his brown eyes and blinked owlishly. Then, it liberated a small paw from the cloth that was wrapping its body and touched the adult sehlat’s snout.

***

  
_[Several years later]_

“Pathetic human! Did you think it would be so easy to rescue your worthless Captain?” The tattooed Romulan smirked nastily, an evil glint in his eyes. “He will soon tell us everything we need. As you will also do when we torture you,” he guffawed. Jim stared defiantly and him, but that just made the pointed-eared Captain laugh louder.

  
“Well, we have wasted enough time already,” he said, turning toward one of the officers in the bridge, “Activate the drill.” The officer pressed a combination of buttons in his station and, after a few seconds, Jim was able to notice how the starship started to hum.

  
“Look,” the Romulan Captain said, talking once more with Jim, “this will be poetic justice; a Vulcan destroyed Romulus, and now, we’ll destroy Vulcan.”

  
“But Romulus is not destroyed!” protested the young Lieutenant.

  
“No, in this reality it’s not,” affirmed the tattooed Captain, “but that neither erase the fact of its destruction in my reality nor quenches my need for revenge. Besides, destroying Vulcan and the other Federation planets will free Romulus and facilitate our future conquests.”

“You’re crazy!”

  
The Romulan Captain just smirked, dismissing Jim. 

  
“Twenty minutes until we reach the planet’s core,” a Romulan Lieutenant affirmed after consulting the screens of his station.

  
“Perfect. Everything is almost ready but, we a missing the most important character in this little stage play; where is S'chn T'gai Spock?” he asked Jim.

  
“Schga.. who?” the human replied, confused.

  
The Romulan Captain frowned, “Spock, the one who destroyed Romulus. Or well,” he said shrugging, “his counterpart in this reality.” He looked at the human Lieutenant, his mood becoming darker. “Do you think that feigning ignorance will save him?”

  
“I have no idea who are you talking about.”

  
“Fool!” the Romulan Captain brutally slapped Jim and only the Romulan officer holding him prevented him from falling to the floor.

  
“Waste of air and space! I’ll enjoy destroying your race,” the Captain sneered. Then, he turned around and barked at the nearest officer, “Search for his signature on the surface of the planet!”

  
“Yes, Sir!” After pressing a few buttons, the screen showed a red point in what appeared to be a representation of the surface of Vulcan. “I’ve found him!”

  
“Perfect, bring him up!” He ordered with an evil smile.

***

  
He noticed the tremor the moment it started. It was in everything around him; the ground, the rocks surrounding him, the big herbivore he had just hunted. He could even feel it in the air.  
A growl erupted from his chest and, the hair of his arms stood on end; this unknown threat was more important than bringing his kill back to the den. Having reached that conclusion, he secured his weapons and started climbing the ravine to reach a vantage point from which he’d be able to assess the recent threat.

  
Suddenly, a series of golden particles began to surround him and, he quickly reached behind him, grabbing the spear he was carrying on his back with his right hand. His left hand instinctively hovered over the sharp knife he had sheathed in a scabbard tied to his waist.

  
In only a few seconds the particles multiplied and he felt the strangest sensation. The red ravine disappeared in front of his eyes and he suddenly materialized in a different place; a room made of metal and other materials. Lights were blinking in several places and, there was a perceptible sound, humming in synchrony with the tremors he had noticed on the ground of his planet.

  
There were also a few humanoids surrounding the platform he was standing in. He instinctively knew they were his enemies. Taking advantage of his superior reflexes, he squatted and rolled down from the platform. Without thinking, he stabbed the closest humanoid with his spear and drew his knife with his other hand.

  
Clearly, they weren’t expecting his attack so, he used the situation to gain leverage in the skirmish. He dodged around his fallen opponent to stab the leg of the humanoid beside him. When the wounded enemy bent down, he used the knife to slice his throat. There were just two adversaries left and, he easily defeated them using their shock to his advantage.  
Shortly, the only ones alive in the room were him and the first enemy he had stabbed. He approached the gasping humanoid, knowing that the le-matya’s poison coating the tip of his spear had left his foe paralyzed. He touched his face, putting his fingers in the melding points of the dying adversary.

  
He didn’t understand what was happening. Undoubtedly, his enemy would provide ample information to remedy that situation.

***

  
“Where is he?” the furious Captain bellowed at his subordinates.

  
“We don’t know, Sir!” replied a Romulan officer, checking the information panels of the surrounding stations. “And nobody is answering our calls in the Teleportation room.”

  
“Useless! You’re all useless!” he roared and savagely hit the officer, knocking him down unconscious. “Send somebody to the Teleportation room to check! NOW!”

  
“Yes, Sir!” several officers promptly replied, casting wary looks at his Captain.

  
He rounded on Jim, his eyes bulging from fury. “YOU! You know where he is!” he yelled spitting mad. “You’ll tell me! Or I’ll kill you so slowly that you’ll beg me to end your miserable li-”.

  
The Romulan Captain stopped shouting abruptly. A dart had appeared between his wide-open eyes; his expression was one of extreme disbelief. With a pained groan, he collapsed convulsing on the floor. The pained grunts of the rest of the bridge’s crew followed in quick succession, included the Romulan officer that was holding Jim. Everything happened so fast that Jim didn’t even realize he was free; the officer’s punishing hold on him gone.

  
Jim blinked rapidly, astonished. _What the fuck has just happened?_

  
A series of loud bangs made him hastily turn around, adopting a defensive position. In front of him, the metal cover of the air vent flew out in the air and, it fell to the floor with a loud clang. From the air vent hole, a dark green-skinned figure lowered himself to the floor with ease. The young Lieutenant could feel his jaw fall open. The newcomer had pointed ears, slanted eyebrows, long black hair and was partially naked although he carried several primitive weapons on him. With a glance towards Jim, the stranger stood up and approached the launching station where he pressed a sequence of buttons without a hint of doubt.

  
The humming of the starship stopped and, the station’s panels showed that the drill was deactivated. The humanoid smiled with satisfaction and turned from the station to pierce Jim with his surprisingly expressive brown eyes.

  
The human stared him back, unable to pronounce a single sound.

  
The alien studied Jim, tilting his head like a cat. He uttered some words that the young Lieutenant couldn’t understand but sounded like Romulan. Jim has never missed Uhura’s presence more than at that moment; his friend would have been able to tell him what the strange guy’s words meant in a breath.

  
The warrior, for he was one without regard to how primitive his weapons were, frowned realizing that Jim couldn’t understand his words. The alien pondered the problem during a few seconds and, he finally seemed to reach a decision. Before Jim could react, the stranger was in front of him with his fingers posed on his face.

  
The world around Jim disappeared and, he found himself on the surface of a rocky plateau. Above him, countless stars and constellations shone in the night sky. A refreshing breeze helped to alleviate the heat coming from the red sandy ground. He was alone in the beautiful scenery. However, he could feel a strange presence with him, skimming through his mind in a quick search for something. Jim knew he should be offended for the unauthorized trespassing; maybe he should be even leery. Still, how could he be insulted by the intrusion when it was the most astonishing thing he had ever experienced. The shinning aura was filling places of him he had never realized were empty, healing the still bleeding wounds from his painful ordeal in Tarsus IV.

  
A golden glint out of the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. There was a small sprout growing beside him. He crouched down, looking at the shiny yellow shoot in awe. He could feel a warmth coming from it in waves. With a hesitant hand, he touched the small leaf the sprout had on its top. A sense of familiarity surrounded him, followed by a feeling of euphoria. The golden plant grew a few centimetres becoming thicker and taller. He was going to touch it again when a green hand grasped his hand, effectively aborting the movement. He turned his head and felt his heart skip a beat when he met the chocolate eyes of the warrior.

  
“Now it’s not the moment to do this, my soul,” the stranger said with a kind smile. “We had first to end our enemies and secure my home.”

  
The breathtaking scenery vanished and, Jim found himself again in the bridge of the Romulan starship.

“B-But,” Jim weakly protested, his mind hungering for the lost connection that promised comfort and companionship.

  
“Later, my own. When I rescue your tribe-leader and prove myself worthy of someone as bright as you.”

  
With those words, the stranger moved toward the door of the room. “Secure the room when I leave. Don’t let them start the drill again.”

***

  
“Nasty blow,” commented the grumpy medical officer holding the tricorder in front of the young Lieutenant’s face.

  
“It looks worse than it is,” Jim replied distractedly, his eyes searching around the sickbay for a green-skinned figure. “How is Pike?”

  
“He’ll recover without problems,” replied Bones. “Fortunately, your new friend rescued him before those bastards could use worse methods of torture on him.”

  
He pointed a light into Jim’s left eye, then into the other eye. “I’m getting some strange readings from your mind that a concussion can’t explain. I’ll have to keep you in sickbay for the moment.”

  
“Your healing device is simply reacting to the soul bond beginning to take root in his mind.”

  
A deep voice said beside them and Bones, startled, almost dropped the small torch he was holding.

  
“A soul bond? What are you talking about?” he aggressively turned towards the Vulcan in search of an explanation.

  
“The soul bond, as its name indicates, is a bond between two souls,” the pointed eared alien replied. He tilted his head, looking curiously at the doctor. “You’re furious and worried but, I assure you that I’ll properly court your tribe-mate. I won’t let the bond to grow until I prove I’m worthy of him. In case I fail, I’ll handle its dissolution to set him free to make a new connection with someone worthier.”

  
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Let’s not be hasty here!” Jim exclaimed, hurriedly grabbing the Vulcan’s hand. “I believe I should be the one deciding who is or is not worthy.”

  
The alien turned his brown eyes towards Jim and smiled warmly at him. “That’s correct; as the one courted, you’re the one who has to take the decision.”

  
“Yeah! And don’t you dare to forget it,” the young Lieutenant affirmed, looking pointedly at the warrior.

  
“Jim! Are you out of your mind?” Bones made Jim release his hold on the alien. Turning around, he put his hand on the green-skinned bare chest and pushed him to separate him from his friend. “I don’t know what you have done to him but I wo-”

  
“Communication between us was necessary for our continued survival. However, I was unable to do it with the language I’ve learned from our enemies. The fastest way to remedy that was melding with him to be able to learn his dialect. The bond initiated spontaneously without our conscious decision.”

  
“You invaded his mind! Aren’t you a Vulcan? Shouldn’t other people’s privacy be an important issue for you?”

  
“I don’t know what you mean with Vulcan but, I can see in your mind some images and data about those species’ behaviour that you seem to believe should apply to me.” He raised an eyebrow at the raging doctor.

  
“Of course they should! And don’t read my mind!” Bones, enraged, yelled.

  
“To ask me not to read your mind is the same as to ask one of your species to plug his ears up to avoid hearing someone talking,” the warrior replied without moving an inch.  
“What the hell does that mean?!”

  
“I can read your emotions and superficial thoughts when our skins enter in contact. If you want to avoid that, you should not touch my bare skin with yours.”  
“Bones, stop.”

  
Jim put himself between the angry doctor and the impassible warrior. “He’s right, Bones. To get us alive out of the Narada and, to assure planet Vulcan’s safety, he needed to be able to communicate with me. He did what was necessary for achieving that.”

  
Bones growled, ready to start again, but Jim didn’t let him; he took the warrior’s hand and, they left sickbay while a nurse prevented the doctor from following them.

  
***

  
“They are arriving, Elder.”

  
T’Pau nodded regally at the messenger.

  
After the attempted attack to Vulcan from the advanced mining ship, the Vulcan High Council had established contact with the only Federation ship still intact in the area. Captain Pike of the Enterprise had told them an extraordinary story, helped by another member of his crew. The one who had been on board of the enemy starship at the time of the attack.  
An almost naked alien with Vulcanoid characteristics had been the one who had stopped the attack. The stranger carrying primitive weapons had managed to subdue the bridge’s crew, including the Captain, and stop the drill that was making a hole in the planet. After leaving the Human Lieutenant in charge of the drill, he had singlehandedly subdued the rest of the crew and rescued the Enterprise Captain.

  
The Lieutenant also mentioned an interesting detail; how the Narada’s Captain had been determined to find someone who he considered the culprit of Romulus’ destruction. The Human hadn’t been able to pronounce the name the Captain mentioned apart from the last word: Spock. T’Pau only knew someone with that name and, he had died in an accident with his parents several years ago. After that, she had asked the Captain of the Enterprise to meet their saviour.

  
The doors opened, and the room fell silent. Walking in front of the Enterprise’s officers, there was a dark green-skinned figure with long black hair. His skin tone, greener than any other Vulcan she had seen in all her life, indicated a life lived under the sky. The ease with which he carried his primitive weapons and the scars that peppered his slender body told a tale of survival in unimaginable conditions for a Vulcan nowadays. The murmuring of the other Vulcans in the room followed their wake until they stopped a few metres away from the members of the Vulcan High Council. She commanded the bare-footed warrior to approach her with a gesture of her hand and, he did it without a hint of hesitation.

  
“Are you sure that this is a good idea, Sir?” she heard the Lieutenant whisper to the Enterprise’s Captain.

  
“Don’t ask me, boy. After finding him living with those overgrown bears with long fangs and, learning that those animals were his tribe, I’m not going to take responsibility for a single thing,” was the reply of his higher-ranking officer.

  
That small piece of information gave T’Pau a few more hints about the real identity of the Vulcan in front of her but, the most telling clue were his eyes. Those expressive human brown eyes looking directly at her. The eyes of his mother.

  
“S'chn T'gai Spock.”

  
She heard some surprised gasps behind her.

  
“That is illogical,” one of the newest members of the Council affirmed. “Sarek, his human mate, and his hybrid-child died in an accident twenty-five years ago.”

  
“We were unable to recover the body of the child,” she reminded him. “And he presents characteristics from both Vulcan and Human’s heritage.”

  
“I mind-meld will easily determine the truth,” other member of the Council stated.

  
The members of the High Council discussed the idea in hushed tones until they reached a decision.

  
“We will proceed with the mind-meld.”

  
T’Pau approached the unfazed warrior and asked him if he agreed to the meld. He nodded.

  
She put her hand on his meld points and started the meld. “Your mind to my mind… your thoughts to my thoughts…”

  
T’Pau found herself in a mental representation of The Forge. The warrior was beside her. She was a bit surprised by the lack of mental shields she encountered in her way.

  
“What do you want to know?” he asked.

  
“I want to travel to your earliest memories.”

  
He nodded, “In exchange, I’ll learn about your language and culture.”

  
She raised her right eyebrow incredulously. “Just using the time I will need to reach them? And bypassing my shields?”

  
He shrugged, “I’ve had practice.” Then his image disappeared and, a path opened in front of her. T’Pau startled, feeling the incredible speed in which he was leafing through her memories and learning centres. It was as if her shields were non-existent.

  
Left alone, she looked at the path he had opened for her. The scenery surrounding the path had a strange appearance and, her instinct told her that it would be deadly for her to stray far from the dusty road.

  
She started walking down the path that led towards the mountains on the horizon. The path was flanked by big rocks with flat surfaces. As she reached their position, she was able to watch a scene of Spock’s life, from the most recent to the oldest memories.

  
She learned many things about him and his life, about how he had struggled to balance his two sides to survive. How he was a being of emotion, as any other Vulcan who didn’t follow Surak’s teachings, but how he had learned to control his emotions with the help of his human heritage. About his T’hy’la, in the form of the young human Lieutenant, whom he had rescued from the Narada.

  
Finally, she reached the mountain. There she found the rock with the memory of the accident and a few others with his parent’s faces.

  
She started walking back the path. Suddenly, Spock appeared again beside her.

  
“Are you satisfied?” he asked.

  
“I am.”

  
The Forge disappeared and, she found herself once more in the Vulcan High Council’s chamber. She removed her hand from his face and took two steps back.

  
“He is S'chn T'gai Spock, and he saved us all.”

***

  
_[Epilogue]_

  
“What did Admiral Nakamura say?”

  
“The high command is very interested in your husband’s expertise. They want him to give some Combat, Strategy, and Survival classes in the Starfleet Academy. They’re also interested in consulting with him about the current situation of some problematic missions.”

  
Since the disastrous mission where they’d lost their Chief of Security and had only barely managed not to lose several members of the crew thanks to Spock’s intervention, Jim’s bonded had taken charge of the safety of the Enterprise. From that moment on, the crew of the starship, Captain included, had received the most rigorous training of their lives in hand-to-hand combat, strategy, and survival.

  
Some people protested. However, after a few months without losing a single member of the crew, everybody realized they were incredibly lucky to have Spock in charge. The Red Shirts members of the crew were especially pleased with their new Chief.

  
This unusual statistic had finally managed to catch the attention of the high command and, now they were trying their utmost to lure Spock to Earth so they could use his expertise.

  
“I’m not surprised,” replied Jim with a smile. “I swear he’s a strategic genius. Since I taught him how to play Chess and 3D Chess, he hasn’t lost a single match. No matter what I try, he always changes his strategy in a way that not only counteracts mine but uses it to his advantage.”

  
The door of the meeting room opened, and Spock entered the room. He was still wearing his hair long but now was clothed in dark thermals to fight against the cooler temperature of the starship. He still carried all his weapons everywhere, but now he also had some other more modern and lethal weapons on him.

  
“Beloved, it’s time for your hand-to-hand training.”

  
Jim nodded and started to leave the room.

  
“What should I tell the high command?” asked Pike.

  
“Tell them we’re still thinking about it.”


End file.
